HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS - Neighbors in northwest Harris County are left with a number of questions after they say a “three-ring circus” moved into their community and then suddenly vanished.

Tigers, monkeys, a cougar, a fox and a skunk were reportedly found roaming freely in the home in the well-manicured neighborhood back in September.

Houston Police Department’s Major Offenders Animal Cruelty Division and a Texas Game Warden showed up to the house in the 11000 block of Cypresswood Drive after allegations of an online scam.

A California man claimed a woman named Trisha Meyer agreed to sell him an exotic kitten.

He told authorities that he wired money to a bank account but never received the animal.

Authorities said they noticed a plethora of exotic pets roaming freely around the home and Meyer’s 14-year-old daughter when they went to question the mother.

Meyer was given several citations and reportedly disappeared the next day.

“We didn’t have any record of these animals being permitted,” said Corey Steele with Harris Co. Public Health. “These animals are large, and they’re dangerous. We don’t want the public to be able to have these animals.”

Tigers are among several “dangerous wild animals” legal to own as pets in unincorporated Harris County as long as they are properly registered.

The animals must be kept in an enclosure and have to be at least 1,000 feet away from homes and schools.

Investigators said Meyer did not meet those requirements and was keeping the animals dangerously close to other residences. There’s also an elementary school less than a half mile away.

“It’s not safe. It really isn’t. That’s what concerns us. These animals may be friendly and cute, but they can act out,” Steele said.

Meyer has since been arrested on a warrant in Pahrump, Nev., about 70 miles outside of Las Vegas.